Create • Engage • Educate

Tag: Jon Radoff

People play games because they are a source of fun. So what is fun? And how can I put it into my gamified learning app.

There are several well known theories on “fun”, any of the following types of fun can be combined with others to create a richer player experience.

NICOLE LAZZARO’S 4 KINDS OF FUN

In Nicole Lazzaro’s theory of fun she states that there are four different kinds of fun that are general categories that appear in any kind of game-like context (hard fun, easy fun, people fun and serious fun).(Werbach, 2013)

Each of the four types of fun unlock different types of player experiences.Nicole Lazzaro states that games that use emotions from four types of interactions are more likely to capture attention and motivate play.

“These desires are what drive our everyday actions and make us who we are,” Reiss said. “What makes individuals unique is the combination and ranking of these desires.”(Manrique, 2013)

The Problem with Fun

However there are some problems with focusing on “fun” as the only method of creating the players experience. As Dustin DiTommaso (2011) says “Fun is too diluted of a concept. It doesn’t distinguish the unique psychological experience of gameplay that leads to sustained engagement.”